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Mika: "Post-Gay" or just "Post-Interesting"?

Brian Juergens

As we've noted several times in the past, rising pop sensation Mika kind of gets on our nerves. He's back again to tell us how positively boring it is to speak freely about one's sexuality, appearing on the cover of Out magazine with the text "Gay/Post-Gay/Not Gay?" blazing across his chest.

Mika, I don't care if you're gay, and neither do the people who enjoy your music, I'm sure. But I really am not interested in playing peek-a-boo with you while you try to sell me your record. Trust me -- if the dazzling display of PR sleight-of-hand shown above didn't fall squarely within this site's focus, I wouldn't be wasting my time with it.

As we've also noted, self-proclaimed celebrity outer Perez "the closet doesn't exist anymore" Hilton has curiously hung up his weapons of outing torture in the case of Mika, who seems to have cleverly dodged Perez's pink bullets by inviting him onto his PR wagon.

But even Perez's readers seem to be onto the game and over the lame attempts at mystifying Mika's sexuality in order to sell records. Check out the comments on this article, which range from:

"PEREZ HAS HIS HEAD SO FAR UP THIS MIKA'S ASS ... IT'S SICKENING"

To...

"Who cares what he is. He is about as interesting to me as a wet fart. What's so knew about his story anyway - young gay guy thinks he's got a shot at the big time and knows that coming out may not translate into big bucks. Elton John and George Michael did the same thing when they were young."

While we're on the subject, what the hell is "Post-Gay" anyway? Is that some fabulous new cereal? I wasn't aware that your sexuality was something that you could (or would want to) "move past".

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Submitted by

Brian Juergens

on Thu, 2007-06-07 10:22.

TAGS ::

Post-Gay: The New Improved Post Toasties

Submitted by

David Ehrenstein (2873 points) (631 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 10:47.

Yes it's a fabulous new cereal.

Eat it and it turns you into Kevin Spacey.

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A Gay Beating

Submitted by

Evan (2890 points) (574 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 13:30.

If only he was perceived as not being gay, he would be praised by the gay community.

AfterElton rolls out the red carpet for Matt Leinhart because he says something unremarkable about the John Ameachi story in ESPN magazine. I'm literally so frustrated that I forgot most of what I was going to say and it was a lot. Basically if you are straight you can say a few positive things about gay people and expect a worshipful response. Yet if you are gay and actually have to deal with what comes with being openly gay then you can expect little or be savaged by the press. I would not like to be in Mika's shoes. Gay people make being gay even more difficult. There is no support for gay celebrities. Even if he was out he would receive the same if not worse treatment from the gay community.

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Because Visibility Matters

Submitted by

Brian Juergens, Associate Editor (1215 points) (5337 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 13:41.

We're supporting gay celebrities. That's what we do. We're supporting Matt Leinhart because HE is supporting gay celebrities. Mika is NOT a gay celebrity -- by his own determination. He suggests that there's something wrong with being labeled a gay person, and then whines when the gays don't line up to cheer him on and line his pockets. He says he's "not being coy" about his sexuality and yet appears on the cover of OUT magazine refusing to speak about it. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the definition of "coy", but that pretty much sums it up. Again, I don't care whether he's gay or not -- and if he doesn't want to speak about it, fine -- but then don't do the cover of a national gay magazine playing "maybe-I-am-and-maybe-I'm-not" and expect that it won't raise a few eyebrows. As a site focused on gay visibility, we simply can't not raise them.

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Expectations

Submitted by

Evan (2890 points) (574 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 18:33.

Just as gay people expect more from other gay people now then they did 20 years ago we should expect more of straight people. A simple response from a straight person about a gay man should not elicit a worshipful reaction.

I will continue to give gay people more leeway because it’s still difficult being gay. Once that changes, I will change.

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An insulting new low for "Out" magazine?

Submitted by

adamblast (50 points) (9 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 12:10.

Post-gay? How wonderful that all our struggles are over.

I'm just about to the point of hoping that "Out" and "The Advocate" do fold. (And I was a subscriber to "The Advocate" long before most of your readers were born.) They're worse than useless now; they've grown positively callous to our real political and cultural needs as a community. Too busy with their mainstream press releases and scrounging for big media dollars.

The Logo family isn't far behind them, either, so I hope they can take the lesson.

As for Mika: geez. "Don't label me!" I haven't heard that one since I was a pretentous college freshman. My being gay is not a label, thanks so much, it's a normal, integrated part of my life.

Or at least a normal part of my healthy breakfast.

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Here's how I feel about

Submitted by

Locksley Hall (260 points) (56 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 13:52.

Here's how I feel about it:

If he wants to be in the closet because he's worried about the implications of coming out on his career - fine, that's up to him.

If he thinks that his sexuality is private and doesn't want to talk about it for that reason - fine, that's up to him.

If he is attracted to both men and women, and he thinks his sexuality is too fluid/changeable/unpredictable for a label - then fine, that's up to him.

What's IRRITATING (I agree with Brian on this one) is when he tries to make out that it is somehow "boring" for anyone to label themselves sexually, and that he is doing something incredibly interesting and daring by refusing to do so.

The fact that he doesn't like labels doesn't have to stop him talking about an attraction to men (or women). Both Gore Vidal and Morrissey have resisted labels - and talked about their disdain for labels - while being open about their homosexual attractions.

If he's both resisting labels and refusing to talk about his attractions, then there's an old-fashioned phrase for that: he's in the closet. And that's completely fine, that's up to him... but then don't put down the people who are brave enough to be open about their lives.

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ok, I don't get this.

Submitted by

John (300 points) (60 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 14:14.

ok, I don't get this. People go on and on and on about what a horrible person Perez Hilton is because he made people like Lance and Doogie realize they were fooling nobody with this "oh, I'm straight" act, but yet this site is doing the same thing to Mika that Perez did to Lance and Neil. If Mika isn't ready to come out, then why is it okay to condemn him being a coward, but yet Lance and Neil's sexuality was their own business and we were supposed to buy their pretend-straight act (remember when Lance was "engaged" to a woman? I saw through it then, I didn't need Perez Hilton to out him to me, I knew from the moment I saw him on MTV with N'Sync in 1998), but if Mika does the same thing, he's a coward and deserves ridicule? I wouldn't mind the scorn people have toward Mika if this website wasn't so overtly critical about Perez Hilton, because it seems like you want Mika to come out just as much as Perez wanted Lance and Neil to tell the world what we already knew.

Is it because Mika has "less" to possibly lose considering he was embraced by gay audiences from the start, as opposed to being a former teen heartthrob or child star who is now making a comeback on a hit series playing a ladies man? I just don't see the difference about why Mika needs to be pushed out of the closet but Perez was an evil evil man for making Neil and Lance realize "we know you're gay".

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here's the thing...

Submitted by

Brian Juergens, Associate Editor (1215 points) (5337 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 15:07.

To be clear, we don't think that "outing" people without their consent is right, and we don't do it, and we don't support Perez's doing it. We don't want Perez to out Mika any more than we want Mika to come out on his own, unless he's actually gay and is ready to do so.

The issue is this: Perez has defended his own actions (outing Lance and Neil Patrick Harris) by stating that "the closet doesn't exist anymore" and has said that he has made it his mission to out celebrities in the name of gay people everywhere. Okay, whatever -- call me when the shuttle lands.

So it was quite a shock to see Perez ON A PUBLICITY TOUR FOR A SINGER WHO REFUSES TO DISCUSS HIS SEXUALITY. Now I wonder what could make Perez "forget" his mission statement so conveniently? You know that old chestnut "keep your friends close but your enemies closer"? Someone in Mika's PR team has clearly heard that one before. We're not saying that we wish Perez would out Mika -- we're saying that given this development, his defense of his prior acts holds no water.

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"Post-gay"

Submitted by

Lyle Masaki (3516 points) (2603 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 15:58.

Wow, I haven't heard that term for... goodness, it's almost been a decade. Wasn't the term supposed to refer to openly gay people who don't seek out gay neighborhoods, gay media or gay friends? (With a focus on the openly gay part, which exempts Mike.) Is Out trying to revive a trend that never was?

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Maybe I'm out of the loop ...

Submitted by

Movie_Dearest (1343 points) (251 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 18:59.

... but seriously, who the hell is Mika any way?

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He's this year's pop sensation

Submitted by

Michael Jensen, Editor (2510 points) (5255 posts)

on Thu, 2007-06-07 19:19.

and when I first heard his album I totally fell for it. It's infectious pop and doesn't really pretend to be anything else. I immediately started writing about it as I thought a lot of folks would enjoy it. Mika himself was born in Beirut, but grew up in London. I'm still enjoying the CD, but am seriously annoyed by the games he is now playing. He would do better simply to not discuss the issue at all rather than play these coy games.

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I'm so sick and tired...

Submitted by

FagStag (30 points) (5 posts)

on Fri, 2007-06-08 11:21.

Of gutless kids who are just coming out who whine about "labels."

Sorry, kiddo, but "gay" is not a label. It's just what I am. When 15 year-old boys are being hung in Iran in the city square, when every single Republican candidate for president is against gays and lesbians in the military, when homophobia still reigns in the world... talking about your sexuality isn't "boring."

Yes, you may be too meek and scared to talk about it lest you sell fewer of your annoying records, but in this humble homo's opinion, those campy, flambouyant "Confirmed Bachelors" of the 70s are a relic of the past. Thank God.

If you want to be closeted.. fine.. but don't show up on gay magazines and insult us all by telling us that we're boring for being out when you just lack the stones.

(and by the way.. you don't have more gay fans because you're ugly, you have bad hair, you dress like a freak, your music is so custie that my mom likes it and you aren't even "sexy ugly" like whatsisname from The Darkness. Give it up...to have a big gay following you gotta bring something to the table other than your attitude.)

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Relax

Submitted by

Evan (2890 points) (574 posts)

on Fri, 2007-06-08 18:28.

I can understand gay people's frustration that he doesn't just come out. At the same time you have to realize that not every one is a hero. It's unfortunate that gay people can't just live their lives freely and openly but that we have to fight every day just to get to that point.

As I said before I will give him plenty of leeway because it's difficult being gay. If it was easy he wouldn't be caught up playing a shell game with his sexuality.

Mika is good-looking and his hair is meant to be messy. Out magazine has a history of putting less than flattering pictures of gay men on the cover, look at Jake Spears' cover from last year. Frankly I would like to see Mika beef up and add some muscle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdegmowOq5Y

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Hypocrisy

Submitted by

mchadwilson (not verified)

on Tue, 2007-06-12 21:41.

Personally, Brian, I think you need to come off the Mika soapbox. If you want to be in the business of outing people, then do it. But I personally don't care if Mika is gay or straight, and judging from the audience at last night's Chicago concert, a lot of gay men are with me.

Being a fan of someone's music has nothing to do with the artist's sexuality. It has everything to do with connecting with their music. Perhaps Mika's inclusiveness in his work - despite his own sexual ambiguity - is why I appreciate and respect him. In fact, I wonder if any of you have actually listened to any of his songs. If he is gay, great. But if he is not, then he is a great ally - and we need more allies.

As for the earlier posts discussing his "pandering" to the gay community, I find it odd that this same blog seems to think so highly of Kathy Griffin, who is so obviously a prime offender of this type of shameless activity. And her type offends me so much more than anything Mika will ever do. She sees us as great shopping buddies who she can gab with about jewelry over brunch. At least Mika's work has some understanding of what it actually means to be gay!

Don't throw around the idea of pandering if you're not going to be consistent. And certainly don't try to start a smear campaign simply because you want the answer to a question that doesn't (in my opinion) change the fact that Mika is simply an inclusive musician.

I could name a hundred artists and celebrities that have large gay fan bases who have not acknowldeged them. Kudos to Mika for not only doing that, but for realizing that he could actually do some good by creating positive messages about gay life in his music that might reach straight folks.

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